Master Classes and Special NLA Story Clinic at Colorado Gold

Greetings from Conference HQ!

We’re putting the final polish on the brochure and at-a-glance (AAG) schedule and will have that online very soon. But until then, feast your eyes on the Friday Master Class offerings we have for you this year!

In addition to our fabulous master classes, we are very excited to offer a special Master Class Intensive on Saturday:

The Nelson Literary Agency Story Clinic.

Looking to dig deep and expand your learning at conference? We’ve worked to put together classes that cover a range of topics taught by excellent instructors with the aim to have something for everyone. Each class is four hours in length and provides more specialized instruction on writing, story development, and the business of being an author. This year’s classes are scheduled for Friday morning and, based on attendee feedback surveys, we’ve added a Saturday session to the schedule as well.

The fee to attend a master class is $60. Space is limited!

Check out this year’s lineup:

MFA in Half a Day: Your Guide to Artful Prose | Angie Hodapp
Writers tend to think that artful prose belongs solely to the realm of literary fiction—that writers of genre fiction need only concern themselves with matters of story craft: plot, structure, character arc, pacing, and so on. Not true! For agents, a great disappointment is a manuscript that scores high on all the elements of story craft but falls flat in narrative style. This master class is all about what genre writers can learn from their literary cousins. Come prepared to write! Learn various poetic and literary devices and practice applying them to your prose, from simple sentences to complex scenes. How can description be used to make meaning? How can voice be used to support theme? And, most importantly, how can you develop a personal writing style that leaves a lasting impression on your reader?

Self-Publish Like a Pro | David Gaughran
Out of the three main tasks an author has – writing, publishing, and marketing – publishing is the most straight-forward, and this masterclass will prove that. It will cover the current state of the industry, delve into the incredible new opportunities that exist for writers today, and also teach you how to self-publish like a pro. You will learn: *How to find an editor, cover designer, and formatter, and how to put the package together professionally. *Pitfalls you must avoid as a writer in the digital age, and how to spot scammers. *Building a readership: Facebook, blogging and Twitter don’t really sell books. We’ll cover what does. The class will also cover common myths, piracy, and the biggest mistakes self-publishers make (and how to avoid them). We’ll finish by looking at the marketing strategies of successful self-publishers, and how they have taken over a third of the US e-book market.

Deep Character Building: Analyze, Traumatize, Accessorize & Eulogize Your Character | Chris Mandeville
Your characters are the heart of your story. If you want them to capture the hearts of readers, you need to know them deeply and personally, and be able to convey their richness on the page. This hands-on, writing-intensive master class enables you to dive deep into the history and personality of one character. It can be a protagonist, antagonist, mentor, love interest–any character you want to explore and expand. You’ll do four exercises: analyzing, traumatizing, accessorizing, and eulogizing this character. Then we’ll explore how to use this information in your story to allow readers to know and understand your character. We’ll also look at how you can use what you’ve learned to build a strong arc for this character. You’ll leave the class with exercises and techniques you can use to enrich and enhance any character.

B.A.M!: Crafting Fiction and Creative Non-Fiction with the Book Architecture Method | Stuart Horwitz
It’s the age-old battle between the outliners and the pantsers – those who meticulously script every writing session, and those who pilot solely by feel. Finding your unique approach requires a method rather than a formula. The Book Architecture Method has helped bestselling writers transform their messy manuscripts into polished books. Accomplished and aspiring writers alike will learn the secrets of how to painlessly create a complex narrative such as: • what “plotting” actually means, and why there isn’t one narrative arc but several • how to make sure your book has one “theme” – and one theme only • how to separate your work into scenes and use this disassembly to diagnose what’s going wrong with your manuscript • the secret to why some narratives feel like they are all coming together at an emotional pay-off while others do not. This workshop will introduce writers to a process for organization and revision that includes in-depth exercises. This workshop assumes nothing of a writer’s previous knowledge of technique, nor how much of their manuscript is complete.

Deep Revisions: Making the Good Even Better | Heather Webb
It’s easy to get tangled in our stories while editing. Often we lose hours, months, even years, never knowing if we’re truly finished. In this session, learn how to navigate the three major components to effective editing: the emotional, the organizational, and the mechanical (craft). Attendees will discover when to battle on or to call in help—or when to move on. They will also walk away with concrete tips of how to streamline their process, use betas to the best advantage, and fine-tune specific aspects of their craft. The class is a hands-on approach through exercises as well as examining samples from expert writers. Attendees should bring two copies of the same five-page sample from their manuscript as well.

How to Write a Series that Sells | Susan Spann
Whether you want to write a series or already have one under way, come learn to write–and improve–your series world with multi-published mystery author Susan Spann. Topics include creating a realistic ‘series world;’ believable protagonists, foils, and villains; plotting the ‘series arc’ and more! This class examines the series as a whole. Hour 1: establishing a ‘series world’ and building it effectively. Hour 2: creating protagonists, believable foils, and other supporting characters. Hour 3: ‘plotting the larger series through’ -Including both overarching series arcs and the arcs for each individual novel. Hour 4: continuity, keeping the details straight, how to weave secondary characters through various novels within the series without creating gaps.

Special Master Class Intensive:
The Nelson Literary Agency Story Clinic | Kristin Nelson, Danielle Burby, Angie Hodapp, James Persichetti
Limit: 12, Register by July 15
Join Nelson Literary Agency for this intensive story clinic designed to help you step back from your prose and turn your premise into a solid plot: Do you have a clear “what-if” premise and story question? Is your novel structured so that it makes promises in the first half that you deliver on in the second? Is character conflict driving your plot, and in the right direction? Do story events progress logically, plausibly, and with clear motivation? Can you identify your major turning points? Is your story idea unique enough to stand out in the marketplace while still delivering on tropes readers of your genre expect? In preparation for this session, each attendee will submit a 750-1,000-word synopsis for a story idea—one you’re working on, stuck on, or unsure how to develop. Include specific questions or frustrations you have about your story idea. Manuscripts do not need to be complete. You’ll read and critique each attendee’s synopsis ahead of time—not on its merits as a piece of writing, but on the story idea it presents—and be prepared to discuss with the NLA team what works, what doesn’t, and what it will take for each author to take their stories to the next level.